Life as She Knew It
by TheLovedGranger
Summary: During the final battle all Hermione wants to do is get rid of the horrux. She hopes to get to 1943 to convince Tom to not make horcruxes... Hermione didn't end up where she wanted to be after landing in 993 not 1943. Waking up to an angry Salazar is enough to make anyone a little scared but can Hermione change is mind about muggle-borns?
1. The Room of Dire Need

**A/N Hello this is a new fic (sorta) that I have had in the works for a while. I realize its kind of odd but then where's the fun in normal. Please enjoy.**

~~~S/H~~~

Hermione was pretty sure she had lost her mind. Here she was running through Hogwarts holding a strange looking tiara trying to get to the library of all places. To most its a dead end, but Hermione knew better. In a hidden corner there was a room that took you where you wished as long as you were in dire need.

Hermione was in dire need. It was the final battle and it was a "kill or be killed" situation making that room her last chance. Harry had gotten them all out of the Room of Requirement as soon as the terrible threesome showed up. Draco had wrestled Crabbe's wand away providing the necessary distraction to get out. So the Golden Trio ran. Harry and Ron saw Seamus fighting 3 death eaters so they went to help. Hermione's goal was to get rid of the horcrux, but several death eaters gave chase forcing Hermione to head for the library.

As they ran Hermione could hear the laughter of her pursuers. She knew they were thinking about the irony of killing her in her favorite place, but she didn't let it get to her. She had a mission that would help decide the fate of he world.

She was shocked as the library doors loomed before her. She blew them open and zig-zagged through the shelves to her destination.

The doors to the room opened for her then slammed closed when she was in. Then, in a swirl of magic, Hermione was gone.


	2. Confusion in 993

**A/N Hello my readers! I would just like to tell you that I am loving the response I have gotten for this story. In just 2 days I had over 50 visitors and views and that just warms the cockles of my little authoress heart. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Hermione woke up on a cold stone floor. Well, she thought it was stone; she had yet to open her eyes due to the pounding in her head. She had read about the side effects of the room and knew her head ache would last a while. Thus the reason why she did not hear the dark haired man approach her prone form in the school library

Salazar Slytherin was walking through the library making sure everything was set up for the new school year. He took great pride in the castles structural integrity because he was one of the builders. No, he wasn't just a founder. He was the main architect of the castle. He drew the layout of the castle and put all of the enchantments in place. He and Godric had agreed the students must always be prepared, hence the moving staircases and classrooms (that and they both have a horrible sense of humor).

Salazar being used to a life without change was surprised when he found a female sprawled on his (yes, his) library floor. He was surprised, yes, but he also felt disgust rising. Here was a female covered in all sorts of grime and dirt, wearing trousers no less. He looked at her for a few moments before clearing his throat.

"Ahem, excuse me ", he started, "would you tell me how you gained access to my library?"

He smirked as the young women groaned in pain. Obviously the way she gained entrance had caused some damage. He smirked even wider at her response.

"Who are you? What year is it? I just wanted to go back to 1943", the young woman rambled.

THe young woman's last statement wiped the smirk from Salazar's face.

"What do you mean woman? 'Only want to go back to 1943'", Salazar asked confusion written on his face. "To answer your questions however, this is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the year 993."

The young woman's eyes opened wide in shock. She started mumbling incoherently but Salazar was sure he heard the words "too far" and "so much death".

"Madam, what do you call yourself? I myself am Salazar Slytherin, co-founder and co-architect of this school."

The young woman groaned again.

"My name is Hermione Granger. I was born in 1979 to two muggles Harold and Jean Granger. I was in the midst of a battle when I sought a way to return a horcrux to it's rightful owner. I guess the room thought I meant the objects owner, not the soul piece's owner, thus bringing me here."

Salazar sneered at Hermione. "I should have guessed you were muggle-born. Now let me see this object."

Hermione slowly brought out the diadem afraid of the impending reaction. As she lifted the cloth she heard Salazar draw his wand.

"You little thief! How dare you steal from a Hogwarts founder. I challenge you to a duel!"

Salazar growled when he noticed her drawing her wand. Hermione looked up.

"What are you growling at? You just challenged me to a duel and I accept. Now quit making that awful noise and prepare yourself!"

Salazar looked on in shock. Never had a woman spoken to him in that way. He knew that many women wanted to but the society of the day led many of them to hold their tongues. He was broken out of his reverie by green sparks flashing by his ears.

"You wench! I was not prepared to begin."

Hermione was giggling at his horrified expression.

"You were thinking too much, Master Slytherin. I had to wake you up rom your thoughts."

"In that case, Miss Granger, we shall begin our duel."

They both bowed and then took the requisite steps apart before whipping around and taking their stances.

Salazar sent the first spell. It was low level trying to find his opponents weaknesses. She cast a shield quickly managing to avoid the hex. She sent one of her own back, again catching Salazar by surprise. He was having difficulties concentrating as she cast. Suddenly he found himself on the ground with the witch holding his wand.

Salazar groaned. "Congratulations, witch. You defeated a master dueler."

Hermione grinned at Salazar. "You became distracted and I took advantage of that."

Salazar chuckled painfully. "If you were not a muggle-born I would welcome you in my house."

Hermione's smile faded. "Of course, sir."

Salazar was confused. He had offered the-he wanted to say girl but he was not sure- a compliment. 'Obviously', he thought, 'she does not spend time around civil society. She is lucky I did not call her a mudblood!'

Hermione leaned against the wall trying not to cry. She had spent her entire Hogwarts career trying to change the muggle-born prejudice only to be sent to its source. It was all she could do to keep from screaming at the world.

Now, just because she was angry doesn't mean she lost control of her faculties. She knew old Moldyworts got his blood purity ideals from the man in front of her.

Her mind, after processing that information, formed a plan. And thus "Operation: Changing a Snakes Mind" was formed.


	3. Telling Rowena Ravenclaw

**A/N *Gasp* two updates in one day. I do this for love really. Anyway this was originally part of chapter one but then I was like ew thats too long so now you get two updates. Don't forget to review my lovelies.**

Salazar watched worried as the witch started smiling. He knew he had to find a way to distract her. Then it hit him. He cleared his throat, "Ahem, I need you to follow me."

The witch just stared at him.

"Miss Granger, I need to take you to one of my co-founders."

That jolted her into action. She slowly walked after him to, in her time, and unused classroom. However to Hermione's surprise, the room was in use. Standing over the desk was a fair-skinned lady with dark hair in a blue gown.

"Lady Rowena, I hate to intrude but a situation has arisen", Salazar told her.

Lady Rowena kept working while she replied, "My Lord Salazar, you always say that while I work. What could possibly be the matter?"

"The fact that we have a young witch who claims to be from 1996. One thousand and three years in the future. She is also in possession of your diadem."

Lady Rowena gasped. She quickly looked up at Hermione and the diadem she held before moving to a wall. At the wall she whispered something and a hole appeared. She reached in and retrieved the hidden object. Upon bringing it out it was revealed as her diadem.

"Young lady", Rowena began, "I believe you have an explanation."

"Do you have a pensieve, My Lady? It would go faster that way."

Rowena was shocked. She herself had just created the pensieve a few years ago.

"Of course, my dear. Shall we adjourn to my chambers?"

Hermione and Salazar nodded before following the stately lady in blue.

Hermione was nervous as she dumped her memories in the bowl. If Rowena didn't accept her memories for true she was going to die.

"My Lord, My Lady, if you would like to dive into my memories?"

Rowena and Salazar leaned over the dish one at a time before Hermione followed.

The first memory was on the Hogwarts Express meeting Harry and Ron. Next came the troll and then getting through the teachers defenses around the stone. Next was second year. She focused on her being petrified by the basilisk (he looked smug). She left third year out and focused on the end of fourth year. Next was the end of fifth year when she saw Voldemort herself. Then was memories throughout sixth year with Harry explaining horcruxes to her and Ron. Finally was being on the run and the part of the final battle she saw.

The pensieve booted them out and all three people looked at each other. One with hope, another with sadness, ad the final with disbelief.

Hermione spoke first. "Well, my lady, do you believe me?"

Rowena looked up her eyes full of sorrow.

 **I know I know I am evil and deserve death for this cliffhanger. But now you will be more accepted for the next chapter... I hope. Please no flamers my esteem would take a hit.**


	4. Decisions

Hermione was anxious. Salazar and Rowena seemed to be having a conversation with just their eyes. She knew that both of them were well able to tell if she had tampered with the memories. Salazar grunted and nodded at Rowena.

Rowena stepped forward. "You poor child. Nineteen years of suffering, not just from the evil you faced, but from the children around you. I can tell you spoke truth so we," she put emphasis on 'we' while glaring at Salazar, "accept you. Hogwarts is in need of a healer. Will you accept that position?"

It took Hermione a while to process the information. She slowly came to realize what all of it meant.

"How could I be a healer? I don't have a certification."

Salazar chuckled, "You do not need a certification now. All you need these days is a high proficiency level."

"Then why ask me," Hermione inquired, "I am surely not very proficient."

"My dear," Rowena started, "you have about a month to become proficient."

"A month," Hermione exclaimed. "Why are we still talking then? I have to go start reading. Are there books on this in the library yet? Where do I find more? What ab-"

Hermione was quickly cut off by Salazar's hand over her mouth.

"For Merlin's sake witch, calm down. You will learn quickly once Helga returns with Godric."

Rowena smiled, "Helga is an amazing healer and an able teacher. You will do well. Now we must sort out your legalities. All magical folk are registered somewhere so you must do the same. Once that is done we can get you suitably clothed and find something to do with your hair."

"Where do I register? I don't think I ever read about this time having a Ministry of Magic."

Salazar spoke up, "You will register with one of us. Well, anyone but me. I do not wish any more connections between us."

Hermione returned his sneer, "Of course, Slytherin. I don't want to be tied to you either."

Slytherin smirked then turned to Rowena, "I am sure you can show her to her new accommodations, I have a potion to tend to otherwise it will explode."

Rowena sighed, "Of course, old friend. Go save your potion."

Salazar turned away without saying anything else.

Rowena gave Hermione a tiny smile, "I do apologize for him. He is very... Set in his ways about certain things."

Hermione snickered. "Set in his ways is a polite way to describe him. I was thinking more along the lines of a stubborn arse."

Rowena let out a shocked gasp. "I, of course, cannot condone such language from a lady, Hermione. Please refrain from using that language around me."

Hermione looked embarrassed. "My apologies, Lady Rowena. Most of my future was spent around boys. You are correct about the language though. Only the most uncouth would say what I did."

Rowena smiled, "All is forgiven, dear. Let me take you to your rooms so you can work on getting settled. We will go shopping tomorrow for your clothes and for that we will have to adjust one of mine. It will all work out."

Rowena took Hermione's arm and led her to the hospital wing. After informing Hermione of meal times, Rowena took her leave to continue working.

Hermione looked around her rooms and sighed.

She missed home.


	5. Getting To Know You

**Iiiiiiii'm baaaa-ack! Hello my wonderful readers that seem to forgive me no matter how late I am! Here is the next chapter and I tried to take more time with figuring out what I wanted to happen in this chapter instead of it being super all over the place. I do hope you enjoy and please drop a review when you read it!**

Hermione awoke the next day with no headache. Smiling slightly, she looked at the time and saw it was time for breakfast. Looking down and realizing that she was still in her "old" clothes, she got up and went to find her wand. When she found her wand Hermione scourgified her clothes and transfigured them into a floor length burgundy dress that mimicked the styled. Looking in the mirror Hermione smiled and then turned to leave.

Hermione walked out of her rooms and took a look around the corridor. There were less portraits lining the walls but all were kindly looking people. Hermione realized that the hospital wing was in a different place. It was still on the first floor just in a different area.

Hermione turned to a portrait of a young girl, "Excuse me, would you show me the way to the Great Hall? I don't want to miss breakfast." The little girl giggled and nodded at her. Hermione smiled back and followed as the girl walked off.

As they walked Hermione kept looking around. She was really surprised when she saw a ghost. She didn't stop to talk though. Her stomach had started growling and she wanted to eat as soon as possible. Soon she saw the doors to the Great Hall so she thanked her guide and walked in.

The Great Hall was the same. There was nothing different about it that she could tell and it made her feel better. She looked up at the ceiling soon after that and saw that it was not enchanted. Hermione stopped halfway to the head table pondering how to enchant it.

Hermione was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She looked up and saw an unknown man staring at her.

"Um, hello sir, I'm Hermione. Am I in the way?"

The man smiled, "You are not in the way, Hermione. I am Godric Gryffindor, co-founder of Hogwarts and defense against the dark arts master."

Hermione smiled back, "Good morning Lord Gryffindor. I am pleased to meet you."

Lord Gryffindor looked at the colour of her dress, "You are wearing one of my house colours Miss Granger. I understand you travelled back in time to get here. Were you a member of my house?"

Hermione grinned, "Yes, my lord, I was and am a proud member of your house."

All of a sudden a woman popped up behind Godric.

"Ooh, Godric a new person. Is this the one Rowena and Sal were talking about?"

Hermione let out a small giggle at the exuberance the woman showed before speaking up, "Yes, I am the one that Lady Ravenclaw and Lord Slytherin were talking about. I am Hermione Granger."

"Well Miss Granger, I am sure you know who I am, but I will introduce myself anyway. I am Helga Hufflepuff to the dismay of my husband, I will not change my name to Helga Gryffindor. It is a bit too gruff for my tastes."

Hermione curtsied to the beautiful blonde woman. "It is an honor Lady Hufflepuff to meet you."

"Please Hermione, call me Helga. It is quite an honor to meet you as well."

Hermione smiled at Helga, "thank you, Helga. This means a lot to me."

Helga smiled back at Hermione before walking to her spot at the table beside her husband. Hearing her stomach grumble again Hermione slowly followed after the other founders and took an empty seat towards the end of the table. What Hermione didn't know was that the seat next to hers belonged to Salazar.

Her state of unknowing was quickly changed when Salazar walked in and saw where she was sitting. She looked to the seat next to her and noticed it had a large "S" on the front. She sighed and made to take her plate to a different seat when Godric started talking to her from two seats away.

"Oh do not mind ol' grumpy pants. He will get over sitting next to you in time."

Hermione laughed softly. "I am glad you think so. However, I have to be concerned about his hand wafting over my food. After all, I am what he hates ever so much."

Godric looked at her in mock concern. "Hermione, he would not be so obvious in how he kills you. He will wait until you are sleeping. Honestly, he is the original Slytherin."

Hermione let out a full on belly laugh after hearing what Godric had to say. It was so loud that Salazar actually stopped before walking up the steps to the head table. When he got to his spot Hermione was still laughing a little and Salazar looked at her with disgust before sitting down.

"Laughing before I have had my tea should be made illegal," Salazar grumbled at them.

That of course made Hermione along with Helga and Godric burst into peals of laughter once again. Salazar glared at them all before working on fixing his tea.

"You know, Sal", Godric began, "you could lighten up a little."

Hermione snorted into her own cup of tea causing some of it to slosh over the side. Salazar again looked at her in disgust before focusing back on Godric. However, before he could say anything Rowena had started walking into the hall.

"The day that happens, Godric, is the day this school comes crumbling down," Rowena said causing Helga to laugh quietly. Unfortunately Helga's husband did nothing quietly and his booming laughter rang through the hall. Salazar turned to Rowena and just smirked. Unknown to all the others he had his wand in his hand and pointing to Godric. With a small wave and a nonverbal jinx, Godric began bouncing in his seat like a five year old that needed to pee. Of course that's exactly what the spell did and all of a sudden Godric flushed a bright red and tried to pull out his wand to deal with the mess but it was stuck in his hose.

Salazar started to chuckle softly before it turned into full on laughter. Everyone turned to find what he was laughing at and saw Godric with his hose all wet and his wand stuck in them. Rowena shot Salazar a glare which made him stop the charm while Helga worked to clean her husband up. While all of that was going on, Hermione had managed to sneak out of the hall. She wanted to explore the castle while she could without being pestered by students all the time.

Looking at the portraits, which of course were scarce at this time, she saw many that were not at Hogwarts in her time. There were some portraits that were of people that were decidedly grey in their magic that definitely wouldn't be hung on the walls of Hogwarts in 1997. Every once in a while she would see one that she knew would still be hanging in 1000 years and tried to avoid them seeing her. She could just imagine her 11 year old self trying to converse with one of the portraits and the portrait decides to start talking about seeing an older self in the past. Young Hermione would probably freak out and then never talk to a portrait again.

Wandering around the castle brought back memories of Hermione's years at Hogwarts. Walking past the second floor girl's lavatory she saw herself, Ron and Harry gathered around a cauldron waiting for the polyjuice to be done. After stopping to see the memory play out in her mind she quickly went to the seventh floor where Gryffindor Tower was in the future before making her way back down.

When she made it to the third floor she wandered toward the part that had been declared off limits her first year. She walked toward the space where the door should have been but there was no door. She put her palm against the wall and felt the magic of Hogwarts meet her own. She gasped when they met and tried to pull her hand away but something kept it in place. She could feel Hogwarts through her hand and she marveled at the power running through this castle. After about 5 minutes of getting a feel for the magic, Hermione pulled her hand away. She then turned and cast a tempus. Seeing that it was lunch time she quickly turned and went to the hall to have a quick lunch before exploring the rest of the castle.


	6. Research

Chapter 5: Research

 **A/N Hello my pretties, I know it's been a while and I apologise but 5 classes and choir along with trying to make time to see my family and homework has been kicking my booty. I will work on getting more chapters up in the next month.**

Hermione quickly found herself searching for the library. She needed to know what that whole magic meeting thing on the third floor was about. She had never heard of that happening in the future and needed to know if that was an anomaly. Walking towards where she thought the library was she ran into Rowena. The graceful woman was reading a book and dragging a hand along the wall.

"Rowena, why are you dragging your hand along the wall," Hermione asked, quite curious.

Rowena jumped but smiled when she saw Hermione. "It helps me connect with Hogwarts to see what is going on in the castle at a given time. I assume you are asking because you felt your magic merge with Hogwarts earlier today."

Hermione smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I was just searching for the library so I could do research on it. It was quite an odd feeling."

Rowena chuckled softly. "Are you sure you weren't supposed to be in my house? You would have been quite the boon."

Hermione beamed at the high praise. "I was almost a hat stall. It wanted to put me in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and decided Gryffindor would give me a better chance to grow as a person."

"Ah that makes sense. He always chooses what is best for the child. Though sometimes I do wonder if we sort too early. House rivalries sound like they are horrendous in the future."

"A lot of the rivalry is actually caused by the situation in the future and Salazar's current attitudes. He eventually gets worse and people in the future believe in them."

Rowena looked at her curiously. "Are you not offended by Salazar's opinions on your blood status?"

"I dealt with it all through my years at school and have fought against people that are "pureblood". Although I was born to muggles, I still won duels against them. My blood makes no difference."

Rowena smiled at the strong young woman in front of her. "You have the strength and bravery of your sorted house and the brilliance of mine. Combined you are a force to be reckoned with, Hermione."

Hermione grinned before suddenly remembering what she had originally wanted to ask. "Rowena, where is the library?"

The founder laughed and pointed back the way she came. "Keep going down this hall and then take a right. It will be right in front of you."

Hermione yelled a quick "thank you" over her shoulder before quickly running forward toward one of her favorite places in the castle.

Hogwarts, 1997

Harry and Ron were running through the castle trying to find Hermione. After running out of the Room of Requirement they hadn't realized Hermione had gone off in a different direction. They had just kept running trying to find a quiet place to destroy the diadem. When they found that place after having stopped to help Seamus they found that Hermione was no longer with them. Harry turned to Ron to ask where she went but Ron was already tearing through the castle trying to figure out where she was.

Harry quickly took off after his best friend helping him by blasting any enemy out of the way. Ron was moving so fast there was no stopping him when he collided with a death eater. Harry jumped forward to help his best friend. The death eater turned and it was revealed that it was Draco Malfoy. When Draco saw Harry and Ron, he quickly moved aside.

"Go save the world, Scarhead," was all that he said as Malfoy started running the other way.

Harry looked after Malfoy for a few seconds before grabbing Ron and continuing on. As they ran they heard whispers about Hermione. Some said that they had seen her running to the library and Harry started running that way too. Ron followed a bit confused about why they were running to the library. Harry tried explaining over his shoulder but a lot was lost to the wind. Ron, being the semi-faithful friend he was, continued to follow Harry despite having no idea why he needed to. All he knew was that Hermione had disappeared and Harry was going mental. Before Ron knew it both he and Harry were standing by the library doors watching death eaters trying to get it open. Quickly stunning both death eaters, Harry and Ron got the library doors open after recognizing Hermione's wards. They ran into the library and began searching through the shelves. After about 20 minutes the boys met up in the center aisle disheveled and disappointed. Hermione was not there. As far as either boy knew there was no way out of the library other than the doors and she clearly hadn't left through those.

Turning to each other Ron and Harry started having the same thought. Where was Hermione, and did she leave alone or was she taken?

Hogwarts, 993

Hermione was annoyed. It wasn't that difficult to get her to that state but she still didn't like being annoyed. There was so much more information in this version of the library that were obviously removed between now and her time. Books on magic ranging 'light' to 'dark' and books on creating magic that had never been available to her when she was in school. She thought it was ridiculous. Every school that she had researched in her time had actually offered a well-rounded curriculum and while she understood that dark magic could be dangerous, so could light magic. You aim a stunner just right and all of a sudden that person is dead, same with the cutting curse. She had realized that magic was all about intent during the build up to the battle at Hogwarts. Light magic had the potential to be as dangerous as dark magic if one chose to use it in that way.

One of the things Hermione truly couldn't wrap her head around, was why the creation of spells was no longer taught. It was an important skill and one that should be taught everywhere. Without Spell Masters there was no change in magic and that was abhorrent. She decided then and there that, along with healing, she would work towards a mastery in spell creation.

"Rowena! I need to talk to you", an excitable Hermione said finding the founder in the corridor.

Rowena turned. Despite being disconcerted by the loud voice, she smiled when she saw Hermione moving towards her.

"Yes, my dear, what can I do for you?"

"I want to get a mastery in spell creation. It's a fairly interesting topic and not one taught in the future, at least not at Hogwarts."

"Not taught anymore? Why did that happen? Spell creation keeps magic evolving! It is so important that students at least know the basics", Rowena exclaimed, shocked by the information.

Hermione giggled into her hand trying not to offend the founder. "I have a feeling that the previous headmaster took the books off the shelf. It would be something that he would do. I doubt that Dumbledore was the best choice of headmaster. He was much to manipulative and he would ignore evidence of wrong doing if it suited him."

Rowena looked at Hermione with concern. "My dear, what happened under his charge? You make it sound like there was a lot of underhandedness happening."

Hermione had the decency to look contrite. "As much as I would like to tell you, I have probably revealed to much already. The more you know about the future, the more dangerous it is for me to be here."

Rowena nodded quickly before changing the subject, "Spell creation you said? Well that is simple enough if you think you can handle more time around Salazar."

Hermione paused at that statement. She knew that Salazar barely tolerated her presence and that was only because Rowena would kill him if he didn't. Hermione took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. "I will manage. However, if he threatens me I will retaliate."

Rowena let out a quick chuckle. "I wouldn't expect otherwise my dear."

On impulse Hermione darted forward and hugged the founder. She felt Rowena stiffen before she relaxed and returned the embrace and at that moment, for the first time since being in the past, Hermione felt like everything would be okay.


	7. Spell Creation

Chapter Six: Spell Creation

 **A/N: Hello! I am back with a new chapter! This one took me a while and will probably be my last update for a few weeks. I have finals in two weeks and boy am I NOT ready for that. So in my attempts of procrastination, I finished this lovely chapter. As always, please review and enjoy this lovely little slice of Hogwarts in 993.**

Feeling a lot lighter after her conversation with Rowena, Hermione returned to the library to do a little more reading on healing. While she was well versed in battle healing, she was still a little doubtful of her skills in an infirmary. While most people wouldn't think that they are different, the power that one put into battle healing was much different than what was put into regular healing. Hermione's main concern was not blowing up her patients because of using too much power by accident so she decided to search for the Room of Requirement to practice for a little bit.

Meanwhile, Rowena worked to track down Salazar. She knew that founder almost as well as she knew herself and knew that this conversation was going to be explosive no matter how she phrased it. He was extremely temperamental at the best of times and having to tell him he would have to let Hermione apprentice with him was not going to go well. Her actively searching for the other founder was a stall tactic as she could ask the castle where he was, but she wanted time to prepare herself for the explosion that was sure to happen. As she walked, she went through all of the personal shielding spells that she knew and that might stand up against Salazar's magic once he heard her news. Currently she had gone over the properties of five and none would hold against him.

On the other side of the castle, Salazar sat deep in thought. The muggle-born invader, as he had dubbed her, had the other three founders wrapped around her pinky finger and he found it intolerable. He could understand why Godric was fond of her, she was a member of his house in the future. Helga, too, he could understand but he could not fathom Rowena's interest in the girl. The girl had no knowledge of anything important to magic. She had no knowledge of the true foundations of magic and that frustrated him deeply. That was not to say that he would teach the little chit. He had no interest in gaining any kind of knowledge about her. He did not want to know what happened in the future. He was perfectly content to live in his own time and to die when his time came. This muggle-born showing up was just a small knot in the thread to him; something that could eventually be fixed.

One other thing Salazar did not understand was how the girl could be so uneducated about such important topics. The things she did not know were taught in the first two years at Hogwarts during this time. These things weren't just basic things that 'might' come in handy, these were basic things that were needed to truly understand ones' own magic. It was not likely that Hogwarts would change so much in a thousand years, was it? Apparently, it had, but that still bugged Salazar. The students in the future were going to be horribly ill-prepared for regular life as wizards and witches.

That line of thought created a tangent that scared Salazar. If Hogwarts was no longer teaching these basic magics then what else was removed from the curriculum? And who made those changes? Were the changes gradual or did one headmaster just up and decide that these were no longer necessary knowledge? These questions swirled through Salazar's head causing him to let out a string of rather ungentlemanly swear words and stand to go look for the resident time traveling muggle-born.

Hermione was sitting in her chambers reading a book on healing when someone knocked loudly on her door (in retrospect it was probably more of an insistent banging, but for our purposes loud knocking will work). Surprised and a little confused, Hermione waved her hand to open her door without standing and let whomever was there in. To her immense surprise, Salazar walked in slowly as though afraid something would jump out and attack him. This idea caused Hermione to smirk because it meant that the great Salazar Slytherin was scared of a measly muggle-born witch who the man deemed unworthy of magic.

"Lord Slytherin, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this afternoon?"

Salazar sneered at her words, obviously having heard Hermione's sarcasm. "I have questions about the curriculum at Hogwarts during your time. I have some concern about what is being taught in the future."

"Oh! Has Rowena talked to you? That's wonderful!"

Salazar looked at her blankly for a minute. "What are you talking about?"

Hermione paled when the implication of his question sank in. "You mean you haven't talked to Rowena?"

"Not about anything pertaining to you. Was she supposed to have talked to me about you?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Will you keep calm if I tell you? I know how much you dislike my presence in the castle."

Salazar thought for a moment. "I will not make any promises that may be easily broken, but I will try to keep control."

"Okay, I would like to learn spell creation and potentially get a mastery for it, but when I tried to do so in the future the books that I have found now in the library were not there when I was in the future. When I was talking to Rowena, she said she would approach you first before I had to talk to you."

The explanation fell out Hermione's mouth in a breathless rush that Salazar barely understood. Taking a minute to process what she said was obviously freaking Hermione out. To further bug her he took a little longer than necessary to form a response to what was said.

"I hope you understand Miss Granger that being my student would be incredibly taxing. I am an exacting man and spell creation can be dangerous. You would be expected to be perfect in everything that you did. I will not allow for stupid mistakes."

Hermione stared in awe and nodded to everything he said. She had, of course, read the books on spell creation already and was aware of the danger. The art of spell creation was similar in danger to the art of potions. One wrong move and you'd be in the hospital wing. The fact that he expected perfection also wasn't a problem as she expected it as well. With those thoughts flying around her head Hermione looked at Salazar and asked the most important question she had asked since she arrived.

"Does that mean you will teach me?"


End file.
